Chapter 2

By the time I came out, the party had broken up.

Outside, the autumn rain kept falling.

Forrest had pulled the car up to the door.

Betty climbed into the passenger seat, then leaned back out.

"Forrest says there's still room in the back. Anyone still can't get a ride?"

The people close to Betty started trading looks and raised eyebrows.

"We'll pass. You and your Forrest head home first."

For once, Forrest glanced at me.

"Get home safe, everyone. You too, Ann."

I didn't look at him. I just opened my umbrella and walked off ahead.

I was already home by the time his message came.

【Betty's stomach hurts, I'm taking a detour to buy her some medicine, I'll come get you in a bit.】

A little while later.

【I'll cook her some porridge and then come get you.】

Another hour later.

【Ann, where are you?】

Forrest would never in his wildest dreams imagine I'd gone home on my own.

Then again, of course he wouldn't.

He'd clearly forgotten the last road trip.

Because Betty said one time that she felt awful,

he left me at a rest stop for five hours.

By the time he circled back for me, he was worn out,

and neither of us mentioned that the trip that weekend was supposed to be just the two of us.

"Ann, you need to be more understanding. Betty has depression, and as her boss, if anything happened to her it would be bad for me too."

That day, the exhaustion on Forrest's face lined up exactly with the man standing in front of me now.

So he was already back.

In that instant, something came clear to me.

All along, Forrest had saved his patience for Betty,

and left me the exhaustion and the tired impatience.

I was the girlfriend he'd been with for six years,

and yet now I was more like a subordinate he had to deal with.

"Why didn't you tell me you came back on your own?"

I looked up at him from the couch.

"You wanted to avoid gossip, didn't you? So I got myself home."

Forrest let out a sigh.

"You're wearing me out, acting like this."

"She's sick, that's why she needs extra care from me. I'm not asking you to understand, but can you at least not make trouble? If you keep this up, when am I ever going to feel safe making us public?"

This place looked more like a model home than a model home did.

To avoid gossip, we'd chosen nothing but dark, cold, heavy colors.

No photos. Nothing that said a couple lived here.

The only thing that had kept me moving forward all this time

was Forrest's promise to go public.

I spoke softly.

"Then there's no need to go public."

"Let's break up."

Forrest froze.

When he came back to himself, he gave a small laugh and covered half his face with one hand.

"Sure, break up. So how many days is it going to be this time?"

He didn't take my words seriously.

Fair enough.

I was the one who, back then, gave up long distance to be with him for real,

quit my job, came to this city, interviewed my way into being his subordinate.

At my old company I could have been promoted.

Now, to avoid gossip, I'd missed three chances at a promotion.

My mother scolded me, said I threw everything away for love,

and that sooner or later I'd be looked down on.

So right now, Forrest probably looked down on me too.

I didn't argue. I grabbed my blanket and went to the spare room.

It didn't matter which room it was anyway. All of them were cold, nothing like a place that was supposed to be our marriage home.

The next morning, I got to the office before Forrest.

Usually he dropped me at a corner near the building,

and I slipped out of the car so we walked in one after the other.

I went to my direct supervisor

and handed in my resignation.

My supervisor seemed sorry to hear it.

"If you just want a change of scenery, I have a training slot open here."

I knew he meant well, but I still shook my head.

"My home isn't in Los Angeles. I've been away six years. I want to go home for a while."

Seeing I'd made up my mind, he didn't press.

"Then work out these last few days, and do a proper handover with HR."

Not long after I came out of his office,

an emergency meeting was called.

For once, against all his usual habits,

Forrest's eyes were locked tight on me.

His face dark, he threw a proposal down on the table.

"I've said this many times before: whether or not you can do something well, you put in your own honest effort! Ann, just last month you said you wanted a promotion. Is this your idea of an attitude?"

I opened the proposal, and the pages weren't printed with words at all.

They were filled with garbled strings of English characters.

I couldn't believe it.

"This isn't what I wrote!"

Forrest ignored me and held up another proposal for the room to see.

"I want to give some credit here to Betty. Betty's work is careful and thorough. Her proposal has already been approved, and your bonus this month will arrive right on time."

I snatched the thing out of his hand,

and one glance was all it took to recognize it as mine.

Every word, every symbol, I'd typed it out myself.

Forrest knew perfectly well I'd lost three nights of sleep over this proposal.

I whipped my head around.

"Betty, why did you steal my work? This is mine, and you know it!"